Winter weather extremes are expected to be far more defined than last year, forecasters said, including colder temperatures and copious snow.MLive.com File Photo

GRAND RAPIDS, MI — Wide temperature swings between warm and frigid are as likely as above- and below-normal snowfall this winter, forecasters said Monday, Nov. 5.

Such a prognosis reflects what forecaster William Marino with the National Weather Service in Grand Rapids said is the likelihood of temperatures being at-times markedly colder than last year, with abundantly more snowfall expected periodically.

The Grand Rapids area’s first substantial snowfall of the season is but mere weeks away, and Marino said the question now is when will the distinctively Michigan weather hit.

“This year, I think it’s going to be equally distributed. When we get below normal, it’s going to be severely colder than it got last winter,” Marino said.